On Monday, August 4, half a million people in the Toledo, Ohio metro region could once again drink from their water taps after a weekend without safe drinking water due to a toxin resulting from an algal bloom in the city's water supply, Lake Erie.

Over the past 14 years, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have experienced an unprecedented drop in water levels, and many fear they won't be coming back. In a multi-part series the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explores the causes and implications.

Just months after a proposal to build the first wind farm to be located offshore on any of the Great Lakes was shelved, five neighboring states have struck a deal with the Obama administration to develop offshore wind farms more quickly.

With heavily polluted waters and eroding shorelines, the Great Lakes are undergoing a rapid deterioration in health. The Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a 5-year plan to restore the lakes.